Continued dealing with Pharmally scored

MANILA, Philippines — The recent revelations in the ongoing Senate investigation into the P11.5-billion contracts awarded to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. should have by now compelled the government to suspend all dealings with the company and stop the flow of taxpayers’ money to corruption, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday.

Hontiveros wondered why the undercapitalized firm was still making deliveries for medical supplies as part of contracts that allegedly did not appear on the government’s online procurement portal.

“Pharmally is not worthy to receive money from the coffers of the government, amid all the lies and deception that its officers have shown to the [Senate blue ribbon] committee,” she said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Mohit Dargani, Pharmally secretary and treasurer, admitted during a committee hearing that his company still had pending deliveries for an undisclosed number of personal protective equipment.

Hontiveros said the Senate would continue to dig deeper into the details of contracts that were not on the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System, or included in the 2020 Commission on Audit (COA) annual report on the Department of Health.

Aside from noting irregularities in the procurement process, senators also pointed to indications of overpricing in the goods sold by Pharmally as well as “ghost deliveries.”

They were likewise suspicious over the unexplained wealth of the corporation’s executives, specifically a fleet of luxury cars bought in the same year they bagged the P11.5-billion supply contracts with the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

The Senate blue ribbon committee has directed the PS-DBM to submit the documents on four contracts that were not divulged in the COA report, including a P300-million contract for 3 million pieces of KN95 face masks, or a unit price of P100.

It also sought the documents on three purchases of test kits from Pharmally, at varying prices: a June 9, 2020, purchase order for 41,400 test kits, or a unit price of P69,500; another purchase order issued the next day, June 10, for 312 test kits worth P245.9 million, or a unit price of P787,968; and a purchase order worth P774.35 for 17,000 test kits for a unit price of P45,550.

Hontiveros reiterated an earlier call for the government to suspend all transactions with Pharmally amid the recent findings that, according to her, violated government processes and often lacked proper documentation.

“We learned that Pharmally continues to make deliveries of their products. Amid all the lies that its officers weaved during the investigation, they do not deserve to get hard-earned taxpayers’ money,” she said.